Trials of a Trainee Knight
by Thisisfunwhattooksolong
Summary: Chip is training hard to be a knight. Normally, it takes years of training to achieve. However, when events start spiraling out of control will he be able to take on the challenges and succeed?
1. Chip's training

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Power Rangers.

**A/N: **I've attempted to keep it as close to the style of its source material as possible. However this is not easy because of the change in medium.

This is set sometime after At All Costs but before Once A Ranger.

As far as pairings go I'll try to keep it as canon as possible – that is Leanbow/Udonna, Phineas/Leelee, Toby/Nikki and (heavily implicit) Maddie/Nick. I haven't actually decided on the others yet and I hope I haven't missed any.

As the summary implies this has very much Chip as the main character.

* * *

Chip swung with all his might but his teacher easily blocked the blows. Daggeron then spiral kicked into Chip sending him flying backwards, training sword swept out of his hand. That meant Daggeron had won ten consecutive rounds. Clare, watching from the side, had to admire Chip though, because he was trying so hard with his knight training. She briefly wondered whether Chip and the others ever admired her effort in her attempts to become a sorceress back when she couldn't get her spells right.

Chip slumped up, obviously worn out.

"Rematch?" Chip asked, already going to pick up his sword.

"As you wish." Replied Daggeron.

That fight was not nearly as long as the earlier ones. Chip no longer had enough strength to fight and Daggeron easily defeated him. And Clare knew Chip wouldn't stop of his own free will. So she decided to stop him. As Chip attempted to pick up his sword again Clare summoned it into her hand.

"That's enough Chip." Clare told him gently, going over to him. "If you keep this up, you're going to get hurt." And then Clare led him and Daggeron back into Rootcore.

Chip was secretly pleased for the break. Not that he would ever admit it but he was having trouble walking in a straight line. By some means he would never quite be able to explain he managed to find his seat at the round table and collapsed into it.

"Wow, he's had way too much catnip." Came Jenji sticking his head out of the lamp.

"Not asleep yet." Said Chip groggily with his head on the table before he passed out from exhaustion. Realising training wouldn't be restarting any time some Daggeron hung up the training gear and sat down on the stairs. Clare suddenly realised that the Solaris Knight didn't have a seat on the round table.

She made a note to add it to the list of things she would ask Leanbow about when he came back. At the moment Nick was visiting his step-family with his parents and her only correspondence with them at the moment was to beg Nick to call Maddie, since as much as she likes Madison, there's only so much 'When do you think Nick will come back' that she can take. And it was obvious that everyone else thought similarly.

Many hours later Chip woke up. He very quickly noted that he was not in bed. Then that he was fully dressed. Then that his head was on a garuda symbol which he suddenly realised was a lot more comfortable than it should be. Finally he remembered where he was and started embarrassingly looking around for Daggeron and Clare.

Not finding them in any downstairs room he made his way outside. It was at this point that he discovered that he'd slept a little longer than he'd thought. It was really cold and really dark, in other words it was the middle of the night. He tried to imagine how he was going to explain this when he got home.

He cut his musings short however as he noticed something strange coming from Fireheart's Den. Checking he had his wand with him he headed over to it walked in. He was right. Sneaking in were about a dozen creatures which Chip knew from the news were called Lava Lizards.

Chip quickly guessed they'd come to steal another of Fireheart's scales. It had been a complete embarrassment for them the last time that happened. Four rangers, one terror, one vampire and one troblin were listed among Toby's employees, yet they all managed to miss Moltor and his Lava Lizards robbing them in their own car park. Chip decided it was time to stop them this time and entered the digits 123 on his mystic morpher.

"Galwit Mysto Ranger!" Came this ethereal sounding voice and Chip, lengthy morph sequence later stood to face the intruders. They seemed surprised to see him. Chip announced himself to them.

"Fast as lightning, Yellow Mystic Ranger!" Chip called as the Lava Lizards stared amusedly at him. "Magi Staff Crossbow Mode!" Chip blasted four of the Lizards and the rest started backing out. Then Chip found Moltor himself, trying and failing to subdue Fireheart. Fireheart suddenly reared up and batted Moltor with all the power the dragon's claw possessed. This had the duel function of throwing Moltor away from Fireheart and towards Chip.

"Another pesky ranger, I just can't seem to get rid of them." With that Moltor charged Chip swords drawn and Chip tried to evade as his fiery opponent slashed towards him continuously but eventually Moltor made his attack connect and Chip was knocked backwards. Chip knew he had only one weapon that was of any use up close so he once again activated his mystic morpher, typed in the spell code and summoned the Mystic Force Fighters.

Now the fight was more even and Chip was able to push them outside. After two minutes of fighting Chip powered up the boxing gloves and attempted to use the special move on Moltor. However, Moltor was faster and it was Chip was propelled backwards, Fighters and Ranger Mode dissipating as he hit the ground.

"At least I'll get to finish one ranger, still more than Flurious." And Moltor raised his swords, preparing to slash down upon Chip. Suddenly an energy blast had Moltor off his feet. As Chip pulled himself up he turned to see Itassis and an unmorphed Daggeron, Solaris Laser Lamp in one hand and Mystic Sword in the other.

Moltor barely had time to stand before a blast from Itassis hit him and Daggeron jumped towards him, morphing while still in the air and bringing the mighty sword crashing down.

Moltor was tough enough to survive such an attack, but only just and he sent the remaining Lava Lizards as a distraction while he made his escape. Daggeron unleashed Jenji and defeated the Lava Lizards but Moltor was long gone. Daggeron then turned to Chip.

"Mind telling me what's going on?" Chip's teacher asked him. Chip then recounted the events with Fireheart right through to where Moltor was about to cut him down.

"It's a sad day when a villain is brave enough to strike here." Daggeron replied at the end. "We had better tell Clare everything's OK. She thought The Master had returned with all the explosions going on out here. I should also inform her."

They headed back inside Rootcore and Clare came rushing over. Daggeron turned to Chip and Itassis soon after.

"Listen, I need you to guard the woods while Jenji and I go to speak with Mystic Mother." Daggeron told them. Chip wondered why he needed to inform her of the situation.

"Hang on, why do you need to tell her?" Chip asked earnestly. Itassis answered his question.

"Because the woods are a large area. It should have taken Moltor a lot longer to find this place; therefore it is probable that he had outside help." The sphinx lady explained to him and Chip had to admit that it did make sense.

"I see. Should I call the others?" Chip asked.

"If you need to. A true warrior knows when to ask for help." Daggeron replied. "Now, I must go. If I'm not back in two days summon Leanbow." And with that Daggeron stepped back outside, summoned his train and departed.

Chip tried to figure out exactly what they were supposed to do. The last time he had been without all of his mentors it had been simple, fight Morticon, Koragg and Necrolai in order to stop them using Clare. He knew patience was one of the skills he should be improving but that didn't help him actually improve it.

He settled on sitting at his seat and reading spell books, which caught Clare's attention. She thought he would have done something physical. She guessed he must be still hurting from his battle and briefly pondered using a healing spell on him. In the end she chose simply to go over and assist him.

Meanwhile, in a distant part of the world where nothing good dares tread, a secret meeting was going on. One figure, who carried himself as though he was the leader, took the seat at the head of the table and slammed his staff into the ground, calling the meeting to order.

"Tell me dark lords, how are the preparations for our coming war with the Earthlings?" He asked the assembled evil doers. One man, cloaked to hide his identity gave an answer.

"Our monsters are being developed nicely. We will soon have enough to launch an attack on the cities of Earth. Our plan to keep the Sentinel Knight off our backs however met with less success. Moltor failed to get the scales needed to make himself more powerful and keep the good Sentinel's gaze on those buffoons. Worse, the mystics suspect he had help. And if the Solaris Knight tells Mystic Mother she will know it's us."

The assembled villains exchanged what they would never admit were nervous glances. Then a figure at the other end of the table stood up.

"I, Imperious will destroy Solaris Knight. He will never reach Mystic Mother. Where is he?"

The cloaked man informed everyone that their enemy was on his way to her palace. The leader pulled up the train on his crystal ball and smiled wickedly.

"Not for very much longer." With that he pointed his staff at the image of the train and fired a long blast at it, causing the train carriages to split and fall from the transport dimension. The massive engine flew down into a desolate wasteland and Daggeron and Jenji were seen climbing out. The leader then turned to Imperious. "Calindor!"

Imperious growled at the name but continued to listen. "Go there and take him out. Take an army of those grunts of yours with you. Remember, our part must not be discovered."

"I have no need of grunts. I can do something he hasn't been able to since he was just Solaris Ranger." Imperious assured his follow bad doers. "Grow. He won't destroy me this time."

**

* * *

**

A/N:

Don't worry, the others will appear later. I just had to get this bit out of the way.

I do own a copy of the Mystic Force DVD boxset so feel free to insult me if I've gotten any actual plot point wrong.

I'll try to have the next bit up within three days (that way I might manage it in four).


	2. Chip's (not so good) plan

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own it and I am not going to.

A/N: Ok part two. I hope everyone's in character but I'm not entirely sure.

**Edit: **Certain things were removed from this chapter, because they introduced storylines that would cause later chapters to collapse under their own weight.

* * *

By morning Chip was getting very agitated. He couldn't defend the woods, work at Rock Porium and figure out what should be done all at once. Fortunately he did have today off at the record store so that was one less thing to worry about but somehow that problem paled into insignificance when compared with the others. He was starting to realise just how difficult Daggeron's job must be. He was determined however, to not let that stop him. He knew Itassis with her immense wisdom would probably know exactly what was needed but somehow that didn't reassure him as much as it should. So Chip decided to try flying to calm him down.

Grabbing his broomstick he raced around the woods. As he flew he wondered what Moltor and whoever was backing him would do next. He thought really hard. And then an obvious answer occurred to him. Having failed twice to steal Fireheart's scales, it would be unusual to shy away from a third attempt. Especially should they find out Daggeron had left.

Chip then tried to think of how to prevent a further attack. Fireheart was a tough creature that would not succumb without a fight and could best most enemies that do not absorb fire attacks but unfortunately Moltor does. Chip was certain that if there was another attack it wouldn't just be Lava Lizards that were brought as escorts, it would be enough monsters to overcome Itassis, him and Clare relatively easily.

Chip thought about what people had done in order to defend against superior enemies in the past and then flying over a clearing with a small hill he had a brainwave. He hurried back to tell Clare, Itassis and anyone else that would listen.

Clare's face showed so much shock that she looked like she had just been punched. Had Chip really just said what she thought he had? She saw Itassis look relatively happy at the idea so she guessed she must have misheard. None the less she thought it sensible to check.

"Chip forgive me, I must have misheard you, but it sounded like you just said you wanted to build a castle."

"Yes Clare, that's what I said." Chip reiterated. "Think about it. We can't protect this place without Daggeron's help and even if we could, it was only pure luck that I came across the raiding party in the first place."

Clare had a gut feeling there was a serious flaw in that plan but easy as it should be to find fault with someone wishing to build a fourteenth century stronghold, Clare just could not think of anything to use against it. So she did the only thing she could. She took out her wand and used a transport spell to take herself and Chip to Rock Porium.

Daggeron and Jenji surveyed the wreckage. It did not look good. Putting the train back together would be possible but it would take a long time, and they were sure that was one thing they lacked. None the less it seemed to be their only means of escaping the wasteland they found themselves in so that was precisely what they had to do. Daggeron chose to start with the engine and powered up to his Ancient Mystic Mode, using the massively enhanced strength to move bigger train bits and his weapons as makeshift welders. Little did he know he would need them for their more conventional purpose, as Imperious was coming towards him.

The evil knight did away with the introduction and announced himself by blasting Daggeron while he wasn't looking. Hit by the attack, but not badly damaged, Daggeron summoned his Mystic Sword and sought out his adversary. A large dark gray figure adorned with what appear to be traffic lights wasn't hard to spot. There was only one problem with identifying his enemy that Daggeron could see.

When they last met, Daggeron had destroyed Imperious, slicing him with the very sword he was now holding before the traitor had exploded in a storm of sparks. So how was he facing him now, months later, around the wrecked remains of his prized train? He did not have enough time however to ask as the mummy fired on him again.

Using his sword to deflect the blasts he charged Imperious and for several minutes they fought, parries, thrusts and energy weapons abound. Jenji attempted to help by throwing seats, doors, coal and any other handy item at Imperious but it wasn't doing much good. Then Imperious got bored of the stalemate and uttered the spell.

"Malorus Melavacardum." And with that Imperious grew, albeit only to regular giant monster size. Imperious knew he didn't need to say anything to taunt Daggeron, since he knew the Solaris Knight had nothing to respond with.

Daggeron was not about to give up however and attempted, like a flea, to outmanoeuvre Imperious while he stabbed him repeatedly with his sword. Imperious thrashed about until eventually he hit Daggeron knocking him to the ground and then, slowly so as to savour the moment, stood on him.

Imperious revelled in his victory and sending a parting shot at Jenji, transported himself away. Jenji dodged the attack and went over to Daggeron, hoping to at least recover what was left. What he found was amazing. Rather than squishing Daggeron, Imperious had only succeeded in hammering him into the ground like a nail into a notice board.

"I always knew this ground type was good for something." Jenji commented. Daggeron's mumbled something from below, and then fired all his weapons at once; blowing the ground that was entombing him away and emerging from the hole.

"That can't have been very fun." Jenji commented and they once again set about trying to fix the train.

In Rock Porium Manager Xander was pretending to set up while Vida and Matoombo did most of the work. Toby also happened to come in. This was the sight that greeted Chip and Clare when they teleported into the centre of the room.

"You do know that you don't have work today don't you Chip?" Toby asked him.

"Yes I know." Chip told him excitedly.

"Chip." Clare said to him exasperatedly. "Please tell them all your plans for the immediate future."

Chip and Clare had Vida's and Xander's complete attention.

"This ought to be good." Xander thought aloud.

"Well guys, I was thinking..." Chip began but Vida cut him off and went over to the back door.

"Hey guys, get in here, Chip has something important Clare thinks he needs to tell us. You can make a montage for Nick another time." Vida yelled and seconds later Maddie, Leelee and Phineas came rushing in, though only Maddie and Leelee caught the full meaning.

"OK Chip, tell them." Clare pressed him, though she need not have bothered.

"I've decided to build a castle." Chip told them with all the excitement he felt. Their responses were pretty similar to Clare's. "Well, what do you think?"

Xander was the first to recover.

"Now Chip," he began. "If I may ask the obvious question here, why?"

"Because we need somewhere that's harder to break into than Rootcore's garden." Chip defended. "I doubt Lava Lizards would be able to raid a castle so easily."

"Since when did Lava Lizard's attack Rootcore, we're all embarrassed they attacked here but..." Maddie began but Chip stopped her.

"They attacked Rootcore during the night." Chip told them. Once again there was utter shock in the room only broken when their morphers rang. They quickly answered.

"Rangers," came Itassis's voice. "There are giant monsters heading for Briarwood."

Toby looked resigned. "Well I guess you'd better go. It will once again just be Phineas and Leelee."

The rangers and Matoombo shouted an apology to Toby as they headed out the door. Clare transported herself back to Rootcore in case Itassis needed to help them.

They quickly found the new threat and Matoombo grew to his natural size to fight them. It was then the rangers' turn.

"Legendary Source, Mystic Force! Code Four!" They shouted and morphed first into their Legend Warrior Mode, then into the Mystic Lion.

It was very fortunate for the Mystic Lion that these were not overly powerful monsters because while the Mystic Lion is more powerful than the Mystic Dragon, it is not a full megazord. It traded blow after blow with the attacking monsters but Matoombo would certainly be getting giant creature of the match for this one. As the Mystic Lion used its move to finish one monster, Matoombo sent an energy blast from his spear eliminating all of the rest.

Even though the battle was finished the rangers, now back into Legend Mode again, were still worried. That attack had seemingly been random and no evil force could spare monsters like that. So Matoombo headed back to Rock Porium while the rangers tree travelled to Rootcore. Arriving, they were surprised to find Lava Lizards in retreat, as Itassis chased them out. It was clear they were supposed to storm Rootcore while the rangers were busy but luckily it didn't seem to have worked. A lone figure then appeared behind the rangers.

"Typical. You can't outsource anything these days. I guess I'll have to finish you all myself." Imperious challenged the rangers. "I've taken my revenge on the Solaris Knight and I'll now destroy you, forever ridding the stain of failure from my name."

Clare came out of Fireheart's Den riding the dragon and it reared up, blasting Imperious with its fire. The greedy knight buckled before the ferocity of the attack, and then was knocked off his feet by blasts from both Itassis and from Clare's staff. The rangers joined in and dialling Code 1 engulfed Imperious in elemental energy. Imperious retreated before the barrage of attacks could be repeated and the rangers headed into Rootcore. It seemed the Lava Lizards hadn't penetrated the dragon's head as Rootcore appeared to be fine. They quickly checked the crystal ball.

"What are you looking for?" Clare asked as the rangers started a general scan.

"Any sign of Daggeron." Maddie replied. "Before you came out, Imperious said he'd taken revenge on him." And the rangers scanned everywhere until they found the broken Solar Streak train. The rangers then called his Mystic Morpher.

Daggeron was shocked to find, while carrying a boiler, that his morpher had started ringing. He put the giant water tank down and answered.

"Yes rangers." Daggeron was sure he could hear relief on the other side.

"We were told you were dead." Vida stated. Daggeron laughed.

"Well I did give Imperious that impression I will admit." The Solaris Knight chuckled. "But I cannot be gotten rid of that easily."

"Hey Daggeron." Chip began. "Imperious appears to be the one assisting the Lava Lizards. Should I send a message to the Overdrive Rangers warning them to watch out for him?"

Daggeron thought for a moment before replying. "You can if it makes you feel better but Imperious only seems interested in us and I would guess that Moltor and the Lava Lizards were convenient tools to be used. They want Fireheart, or at least a scale, he wants us. Oh, and Chip, I will not be back for some time so you're going to have to defend to woods a little longer."

Chip suddenly remembered his plans for guarding against attack.

"Hey, on that note, what do you think about building a castle in a wood clearing?" Chip asked him, hoping to find at least one who supported him, although Itassis had seemed at least impartial to the idea.

Daggeron thought for an even longer moment. "Ordinarily I would say this was your worst idea since you tried to use your lightning powers to power your television during a blackout. But given the circumstances I do see how it would help to have some form of fortified position. Not to mention that it would be good for the villagers to see you are at least doing something. So if you have the means, which I do not believe you do, go ahead. Now, maintaining this form is exceptionally tiring so I'd like to get back to work fixing my train now. Goodbye rangers and good luck."

Daggeron then hung up his morpher. Chip immediately turned to Clare and his fellow rangers.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha and ha." Chip chimed. "I knew someone would agree with me."

There was not a great deal of goodwill in the pantheon of villains later that day. As Imperious entered the chamber growls from all others could be heard.

"I have accomplished much my lords. The Solaris Knight..." Imperious started but didn't get very far.

"You accomplished nothing!" The leader berated. "Observe the crystal. He lives."

"But I... Oh, I hate him so much!" Imperious bellowed.

"If I may my lords," said the Cloaked Figure, "the Mystic Force only knows of Callindor's involvement. They remain ignorant to the rest of us."

The leader looked a little happier but not much.

"My lords," Callindor begged. "Do you think I would knowingly let Solaris Knight slip through my grasp? I will destroy him and take over the Magical Forest." The leader grunted and knocked his staff against the table for attention.

"Just so we're clear Callindor, it will be Thrax who inherits the Mystic Realm, not you." The leader turned to the others. "If for no better reason than he will have a genuine claim." He turned back to Imperious. "And in case you were thinking of betraying us, may I remind you that since all that business with Darkonda, the devils pact binding you to life is rendered null and void in the event of treachery."

Imperious wasn't worried. He had no intention of betraying them, not for a while anyway and his pact was with that giant, heavily scarred blue floating head, not the council of evil as a whole. Imperious then remembered that he hadn't seen the great evil creature who he couldn't define any more precisely than powerful on his way inside.

"Tell me my lords, where is my restorer?" Imperious asked the council. They wondered whether or not to tell him. Eventually the leader decided it couldn't do any harm.

"He is, busy, the fine details are of no concern to you.


	3. The Mystic Snatcher

**Disclaimer: **I don't own power rangers, or anything really.

**A/N: **A week? Where does the time go? I am so bad. Ok, so I did spend (reads off box) '660 mins Approx' checking the series again, which seems fair enough for two extra days. As for the rest I can offer no excuse.

That check did mean that I noticed an error I made in the previous chapter. I wrongly described Matoombo's weapon as a spear. It is about as far from a spear as it is possible for a polearm to get. Unfortunatly I do not know the actual name. The handle looks too long for a double ended sword and the blades the wrong shape for a double ended glaive or double ended voulge. I will state the real name once I've found it out. Still, at least I got the polearm bit right. Somebody I met once thought he used a gun.

* * *

Chip flew over the forest as fast as his Mystic Racer could propel him. Clare had called him a short while before to warn him of an attack by Hidiacs and Styxoids. An unknown monster commanded them and they were attempting to pillage one of the villages. Chip saw the raid down below and swooped down upon the monsters.

Chip activated his Magi Staff's Crossbow Mode and made short work of the Hidiacs and Styxoids. He then turned to the main monster. This creature did not look like it was going down so easily. It looked like a combination of a horse and rider, not in the centaur way but in the saddle got superglued to the rider way. It had very thick skin and was clad in something akin to scale mail.

Chip knew the fight was not going to be easy but he was definitely not going to run from it. Firing as he charged, Chip ran straight at the beast. The lightning arrows struck and the monster reared up in pain and Chip jump kicked towards it sending it backwards. The fight was not over though as the monster recovered and charged full gallop towards Chip, who had no time to dodge. He was carried off his feet and dragged across the village, ultimately being hurled against a stick house which somehow stopped him. Chip struggled to his feet and fired again at the monster, this time with his crossbow and his morpher.

The barrage of lightning clearly had an effect on his enemy but was not an instant battle winner and Chip had nothing to back the move up with. Fortunately for Chip, the monster got distracted. The villagers were attempting to break open a crate which Chip assumed was filled with the monsters plundered loot. This gave Chip enough time to morph into Legend Warrior Mode and rejuvenated by its power, he headed back into the fight.

The villages were bravely trying to defeat the monster on their own and though failing miserably, they kept it occupied long enough for Chip to get up close and fire a large burst of lightning directly against it, causing the mighty beast to scream and move backwards. The creature was getting ready to fight back when it stopped and sniffed. Then it fled, galloping away as fast as it could. Chip searched for what had driven the monster away but initially found nothing. Then all was revealed as the Snow Prince entered from a spell seal.

"My Lord Snow Prince, not that I'm ungrateful or anything but, what are you doing here?" Chip asked. The Ancient Mystic suddenly noticed him and answered.

"Her Highness sent me to defeat the Katafract monster. Am I too late?"

"The monster escaped. It seemed to sense you were coming." Chip replied. "Again, I'm not trying to sound ungrateful, only curious but since when were looting bands enough to catch the Mystic Mother's attention."

The Snow Prince turned to the crate and ripped it open. No verbal answer on the Snow Prince's part was needed, nor a verbal acknowledgement by Chip. Inside were a multitude of magical creatures, packed so tightly they couldn't move. The Snow Prince set about releasing the trapped creatures while Chip stood seemingly rooted to the spot, overcome by shock.

Unable to figure out what to do, Chip and the Snow Prince headed back to Rootcore, greeting Clare and Itassis on their way in. Then immediately Chip and the Snow Prince, followed shortly by Itassis made their way into the round table room. Chip then called the other rangers.

"Guys, get over here, it's important." Chip called over the morphers. Vida's voice quickly came over the other end.

"This had better not be more on your 'Great Fortress of Mystic Wood' plan Chip." She growled threateningly.

"No, this is definitely a monster problem. Could you guys get over here?"

"Sure, we can come over." Vida replied and twenty seconds later they were sat around the round table, the Snow Prince in the phoenix seat.

Chip explained the situation to the other rangers and they tried to think of a plan. This was not going to be easy as no one knew where the Katafract monster would strike next. All they could do was start thinking about how to stop it. The debate went on and on, as they thought up various strategies but all of them had at least one flaw, indeed, the only thing harder was agreeing on a spelling. This was until the debate went off topic.

"This is my fault." Cried Xander. "If only I hadn't spent the history class where we learnt about Katafracts trying Plan Xander on an unsuspecting exchange student, I would probably remember this." Xander then started to reminisce. "All she did was ask me to translate how scale mail resists blunt instruments well but not piercing weapons. And about how they don't often armour the underside of the horse."

Xander had, by pure luck, contributed far more to the discussion than anyone else had and from that it was easy to concoct a plan. It was now a matter of waiting.

In the council of evil a sinister plan was afoot. This was not part of their grand plans of conquest and destruction; rather, it was a fleeting opportunity that they were determined to exploit. Unfortunately for them, Moltor had recently suffered a defeat against the Drive Max Ultrazord and knew it wouldn't be in his best interests to fight the mystic rangers. This meant they would have to take advantage of their enemy's distraction themselves. The leader looked to Imperious to bring an attack against Briarwood. To ensure the attack succeeded, every last Hidiac they had acquired was committed to the battle.

Once Imperious was gone the leader then turned to his fellow dark lords and made a startling announcement.

"I will head for the Mystic Woods myself. I will find some warriors who will surely destroy the rangers."

Then for good measure he added, "Count, Lothor, Thrax, try not to destroy each other while I'm gone. Or the building. Or do anything that will attract attention. The last thing we need is for upwards of ten red rangers to show up, with battlizers, ready to fight us. What do you think we're restoring the Machine Empire for?" The leader then made his way to the exit.

"Grandfather!" Thrax called. "Is it time yet?"

"Not quite. Let Hartford and his hoodlums win a little more, think themselves invincible, then you can set about destroying them." And then the leader left, silently wishing Dark Spectre was still alive. It had been much easier back then, free of the responsibility of overall command. Back then he could be a humorous, sarcastic villain but now he had to be the leader.

Of course it helped that Dark Spectre's minions had been reasonably competent. Lokar aside, it was doubtful from their records that any of these dark lords could overcome a mouse. In all fairness though, he had to concede that the victory proportions of Rita, The Pirates, Ecliptor, even his own were fudged by their invasions of undefended planets. It had at one stage reached the point that they missed seeing their opponents, in all their resplendent glory, constantly thwarting any evil plans they used. Then they attempted to conquer Earth and remembered why they didn't like it very quickly.

The rangers had all gone to Rock Porium and were waiting for something to happen. This was always the most unnerving part of being a power ranger, aside obviously from when they temporarily lost their powers and had to seek to save the world without them. So they went about passing the time by any means that they could.

Had Madison been filming today she would have recorded something very unusual. Xander was actually helping rather than supervising. Maddie, rather than talk about Nick, was trying to get the new CDs of a cardboard box. Toby had recently ordered four dozen copies of a new singer named Kira Ford's debut album in an obscure bulk buying strategy. Vida was leaving Matoombo with full control of not only the mixing table, but the entire sound system and Chip was trying to find out where everything was when confronted by an irate man.

It seemed someone, he suspected Phineas, had sold a Kylee Styles album in the case for World's Greatest Hymns Volume 23 and Chip, not being there as often, was now sifting through hundreds of disks trying to find the choral section, which in a shop that specialises in various kinds of rock music is not that big, indeed, the magical artefacts section was larger.

Eventually he found it in a box labelled petty cash and gave him the correct disk. The placated customer left and Chip called Xander over.

"Xander, when's Phineas here next?"

"Tomorrow, he's busy today. He and Leelee went to see this new horror film that she considers a comic parody."

Chip suddenly realised at this point that Leelee must have been born and spent the better part of her life in The Pit, trapped down there with Koragg and Morticon until the earthquake opened a hole small enough for her to get through. By comparison, any horror film would be pretty lame. Phineas was probably in for a nasty shock though.

"Hey Chip, what did Phineas miss-sell this time?" Xander asked.

"Oh, um, someone, I suspect him, gave a customer Kylee Styles instead of a hymn collection." It actually sounded rather funny when said out loud and Xander couldn't help but laugh with Chip following and it lasted so long that Vida and Maddie came over to see what had happened. Soon they were all laughing uncontrollably. After what seemed like ten minutes Chip had recovered enough to start putting the CDs back in the right place.

Eventually their morphers beeped to tell them a monster was attacking. They tree travelled to the site expecting to find the Katafract. They did not expect to find Imperious and the largest contingent of Hidiacs they had seen since the newly good Leanbow helped them escape from the underworld. Morphing into Legend Warrior Mode they charged at the horde of monsters and attempted to stop the rampage but there appeared to be no end to them. Imperious just watched as the rangers wore themselves out against his army, and then ordered his grunts to withdraw.

Charging into battle himself, Imperious was every bit the warrior the rangers remembered. He attacked the rangers with masterly skill and was easily able to overpower them.

Stuck for options, the rangers used Code 2 but without Nick the spell wasn't as powerful and while the explosion of magical energy caused Imperious to flinch it didn't send him flying. The rangers charged Imperious but he called his Mystic Sword to fight them.

Now Imperious was not the greatest swordsman ever to grace the Morphing Grid, but with that sword he didn't have to be. One lucky hit would be enough to win him the battle and the rangers knew it. Fortunately for them the Snow Prince arrived to help.

Imperious led the Hidiacs in a charge and the Snow Prince led the rangers. As they fought their attacks were criss-crossing so often that they tore up the road. The Hidiacs could not compete with the rangers physically or magically but there were a lot of them. Imperious and the Snow Prince had gotten into a duel in the centre of the battle and they seemed evenly matched. However, the Ancient Mystic had a skill that the rangers did not Imperious was not ready for it.

"Let us see how well you fight on my battleground, evil one. Ancient Spell Seal!" With those words the Snow Prince opened a portal and blasted Imperious through it, following himself. The Hidiacs were at a loss without their leader and fled the battlefield.

The Katafract monster had identified its next target. It was a rare being indeed; few crossbreeds are to be found anywhere, especially crossbreeds between warring species. The monster, with a new cage, galloped through the streets of Briarwood, taking care not to encounter any other magic users before rearing up and knocking down the door of the 'City of Briarwood Cinema Exhibition (seats for unusually shaped beings)' and racing down an isle found his target.

Phineas had no time to react as the beast rammed him, knocking him out in one head butt. All the other creatures attempted to flee and most succeeded, but some were caught and would be joining Phineas in the cage. The monster considered taking Leelee as well but as she was human he decided the returns weren't good enough and after collecting Phineas, he left the building, magical creatures continuing to scatter in terror.

This massed panic did not go unnoticed by Clare on her crystal ball and she quickly saw the Katafract monster dragging the cage along. Notifying the rangers immediately she watched the path of the creature as carefully as she could.

Upon hearing that the monster had resurfaced, the rangers called their Mystic Racers and darted towards it. Upon sensing their approach the monster started sprinting away and the rangers had no choice but to give chase. There followed a scene which would be unbelievable to anyone who was new to this city as a monster taking the form of a classical period horseman from Asia Minor was being pursued through Briarwood High Street by four power rangers on broomsticks.

The rangers were unsure how they were going to stop him safely. There was only one thing they had that came close to being a hostage negotiator and somehow they didn't think Plan Xander would work here. If Chip attacked he would also hurt the captives, same for Maddie and at the speed they were going if Vida tried they would fly into her wind attack. There was one outside possibility though. Xander used his magic to create masses of thorns on the path below, sticking in the creature's hooves and forcing it to slow down enough for Xander to convert his Magi Staff and sever the link between the Katafract and the cage.

Chip checked to ensure the other rangers were helping the captured beings and noticed Phineas among them. This made Chip really mad and despite protests from his friends, he headed after the Katafract alone, pushing his Mystic Racer to as fast a speed as he could control in his attempt to catch his adversary, who was now heading back into the Mystic Forest.

Chip spotted the creature and instantly started firing repeated blasts towards him, slowly wearing him down as they went further and further away from the others. It came to a head in a village as the Katafract ran through a meeting where ironically, the elder was saying that in the wake of the Katafract's attacks, the Mystic Force could no longer be relied upon.

Chip got a lucky hit and the monster temporarily hit the ground, Chip dismounting continued to fight him firing lightning arrow after lightning arrow but while it was hurting the creature, it was not enough. Chip attempted to fight up close relying on the Katafract still having thorns to reduce its agility, attempting to trick it into making a mistake.

The fight was unclear as while the Katafract seemed unable to hit Chip, Chip seemed unable to damage the Katafract without using a spell. Chip got the mistake he was hoping for though as the Katafract reared up for it exposed its less protected underbelly. Chip called his broom and drove it through the monster, then using the broom as a lightning rod, blasting it until the creature exploded. He knew he would have to get his broom fixed but it seemed worth it. The villagers thought it was great too, the latest threat was gone and in so many pieces that it was probably beyond being revivable.

Watching on her crystal ball however Clare was worried. Chip had attacked that creature, not out of civic duty but out of rage. This, if it continued, would be very worrying in a trainee knight. The action was not so bad that the Garuda, the Ancient Titan from which Chip took his power, would strip him of it as the Katafract did present an immediate threat to the safety of others; it was however, something that she was worried about.

A while later they were back at Rootcore. Phineas had a hard time explaining how it felt being shaken around during the chase but it was clear that it was unpleasant. Madison and Vida were expressing their pleasure that no one got hurt and admonishing Chip for fighting alone. There was more good news when the Snow Prince transported himself in. He explained how he'd defeated Imperious, destroying his mummified form and forcing him back to his Ancient Mystic Mode. Imperious had fled before that too could be destroyed and he left with only his human form. The Snow Prince was also happy to hear of Chip's victory, though he too had reservations about Chip's attitude.

"Charlie?" The Snow Prince called. Chip was so rarely called by his real name that for a moment he didn't realise that the great teacher was addressing him.

"Charlie Thorn, I must check on you. Tell me, what was going through your head when you fought the beast?" Chip thought hard trying to pin the feeling down.

"I would have to say," Chip began, "that I was simultaneously hoping to stop it before it captured anyone else and mad that it caught Phineas. Those two feelings combined drove me to go after it at any cost." The Snow Prince considered what response would be best for keeping the young fighter on the side of good.

"No matter how evil your enemy, do not attack out of rage. I'm only guessing here, but I highly suspect that's how Calindor started."

Upon hearing that Chip did not know what to say. He knew that Imperious had once been a knight, but Chip had naively assumed that he had always been secretly evil and was just waiting for the right time to strike. What the Snow Prince was suggesting however was that Imperious had started out with good intentions and had gotten progressively more evil as time went on. Chip also realised that there was an insinuation that the Snow Prince thought he might go the same way. The thought chilled Chip to the bone. He did eventually manage to form a sentence though it was not the best.

"Thank you my lord Snow Prince. I will take that into consideration."

The Snow Prince, happy that his point was made, bade his farewells to the rangers and transported back to his own dimension.

Master Vile entered a clearing and found his prize. He had found the road to a hidden graveyard. Walking to the main tombs he gave a sinister laugh. Engraved above the entrance were some worn yet easily readable words. It read 'Here Lays the Mystic Warriors, May They Rest in Peace'. Master Vile laughed again.

"Peace, ha."

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**A/N: **Well hopefully I'll get the next chapter up by Monday. If it isn't then as a punishment I will watch the community channel.

By the way does anybody know the name of the green skinned creature that joins Rock Porium in the last episode? Or the technical name of Matoombo's weapon?


	4. Moltar's attack

**An: **OK, I know. I said I'd have this update by Monday, and it's now been over three years. For that I'm sorry. But I'm finally back on track. I hope.

This chapter still is nowhere near as good as I would like, but I've realised that it's unlikely to ever be.

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Blind panic set in as the soldiers assault turned into a rout. Making for the cover of the woods, they scrambled over each other as they attempted to escape the quarrels of electric death bolting out in their direction. Some of them blind fired back behind them but it served only to highlight their positions and seconds later they had fallen. By some chance, a handful made it to the relative safety of the woods.

But their foe was close behind, firing at every one he saw. Of the forty or so of the soldiers, less than five made it back out, the others struck down under the trees.

Shortly after, Chip marched into Rootcore and looked at Clare, who was hugging Fireheart possessively.

"I've driven off the lizard raiders for now, but I have little doubt that there will be another attack soon. I don't think Moltor will rest until he has Fireheart." Chip said, adding "Is Itassis not back yet?"

Itassis had left early that morning with Maddie and Vida. The northern villages were reporting Hidiac raids at an alarming rate and Mystic Force had been obliged to act. Chip was starting to suspect however that this seemingly random plundering was just to split them up, for there were just Chip, Xander and Matoombo should super powered battle be required in the mystic wood or Briarwood.

Although, Chip realised, Clare and Fireheart could certainly put up quite a fight if they tried.

Chip looked at his training sword before deciding to practice with his bow instead. Slinging his quiver round his shoulder he just about managed not to get it caught on his cape. Then he picked up his bow and went back outside to the target range. Clare followed him indignantly.

Chip quickly put arrows through all the tree stumps. Eventually Clare got fed up.

"Chip, I think you can split a leaf at forty fathoms, don't you have anything... No please don't test it. Archery is the one thing you don't need to improve."

Chip lowered his bow and turned to her.

"It's the best thing I can think of doing. Sword training requires a partner. So does every other form of combat training."

"Really?" She asked.

"Well, I guess you can get something like a rotating scarecrow to practice with but I don't think Rootcore has one."

Clare looked at him sympathetically. Chip was taking his training seriously, even in the absence of a trainer. And the constant attacks were not helping to lighten the mood either.

"Well Chip, you need a break."

Chip thought about it for a second. The last time Clare had said that, he had passed out shortly after. Very begrudgingly he gestured to the dragon head.

"OK, back inside?"

Chip and Clare headed back into Rootcore and sat down.

Chip however couldn't relax even for a second. Frankly Clare was worried, this was not the happy and laughing Chip that she was used to.

In a sense she was grateful. The Mystic Realm needed as many defenders as it could get. But she and Chip had never really mixed during the long fight with The Master, and she didn't want to go back to barely acknowledging each other again.

Thankfully Xander and Leelee soon arrived, and Clare ushered them over.

"Chip, is there nothing else in your life you want to talk about?" She asked.

"Uh, well, I'm meeting the woodland planning committee later..." He said with sudden excitement, everyone else suddenly looking even more exasperated than before.

"Except that one." Leelee put in. "Although if for some bizarre reason they actually pass it for serious consideration I want a ball hall. Oh and modern kitchens and plumbing."

"Oh yes, definitely." Said Xander.

"Agreed." Said Chip. "I had sort of assumed they would do that. That may have been my stupid thinking."

Daggeron surveyed his hastily cobbled together train. When he got back he was going to have to give it a major overhaul. It was no longer so much a Solar Streaker as a loud chugging metal thing. It would do given the circumstances however so he and Jenji got in and powered up the boiler.

Luckily the magical tracks still worked and they bounced at a steady if slow pace towards the Ice Palace. As they rode along over the Earth, Daggeron got to thinking about who had attacked the train in the first place. Imperious was powerful, he did not doubt that, but he was never powerful enough to destroy a train moving through another dimension. This meant someone or something else had fired the blast. Thinking over who it could be, Daggeron concluded that the sooner he reached the Mystic Mother the better. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Jenji, who was pointing at the dials in an alarming way.

Quickly, Daggeron deduced what was wrong. The boiler had been weakened and was starting to spring leaks. Putting Jenji behind the controls, Daggeron powered up into Ancient Mystic Mode and grabbing some spare metal he hadn't used earlier, hurled his way onto the side of the train. He soon saw one of the leaks and made his way through many a hazard to get to it. When he reached the jet of water he was relieved to be in his most powerful form. Unmorphed that water would have both the heat and the pressure to rip him apart. He snapped off some of the scrap metal and, again using his powers, welded it over the leak. Hearing from Jenji that the fall in water pressure was slowed but not stopped, Daggeron started looking for another leak.

Moltor looked annoyed as his Lava Lizards returned once again in failure. If his monsters didn't get their act together soon, well... No, there was nothing else for it. He would have to make another attempt to take that scale in person. And the whole dragon if he could.

He gathered together five monsters and another group of lizards, and headed out. Quickly he had come to the edge of the Mystic Wood and sent fireballs in challenge, and the border trees were set aflame. Now he just had to wait.

Back in Rootcore, those that were left were very worried to see the forest ablaze, and Chip and Xander went out to see what was happening.

Moltor stood ready to great them.

"You again ranger. When will you people ever learn? Get them." A small number of Lava Lizards charged them, but Chip and Xander both saw that the main group did not.

Feeling cautious, they both powered up and transformed their staves. During that time however Moltor had jumped towards them and flying kicked Chip to the ground.

Xander tried to encase Moltor in vines. However Moltor quickly set them alight and ripping them from the ground, whipped them back at Xander. He attempted to dodge, but the flaming vine coiled round the axe and with a sharp pull, Moltor had torn it from Xander's grip before giving him a cross slash with his swords. Costume dissipating, Xander fell.

Chip rolled so he was facing up and fired several bolts at Moltor. The first few hit but then the other monsters got in front and started blocking them. The main body of Lava Lizards had now lunged forwards, and even as Xander stood up, he was forced to fight the creatures.

Xander swung his fists into the first Lava Lizard and it fell to the ground. He then feinted a high kick on the second before sweeping the legs out from under it. But when he pulled his arm back to punch a third, another Lava Lizard caught his arms, and the group started taking it in turns to punch him.

Fortunately for Chip and Xander however they soon had help, for Matoombo quickly arrived. The Terror summoned his bladed-staff through one of the monsters and electrified it, blowing it up in a shower of sparks. He then sent an energy wave at the Lava Lizards, and the ones nearest Xander shattered.

Xander staggered back and recovered his wand. He morphed again before using the spell, "Neramax Tryn Unios" summoning his muscles. By now the onslaught had recommenced but now battle was more even. Xander flung the Lava Lizards left and right. But still they kept coming...

Moltor seemed to take particular interest in taking down Matoombo. He fought hard, and several trees fell around them, but for all Moltor's power, Matoombo could not be moved.

Chip was still dealing with the four remaining greater monsters. He soon realised he would need more power and transformed himself into his Legend Warrior Mode. His Lion Staff brought lightning down on the monsters but they kept coming, and Chip was soon using the staff like a rod, batting away one which resembled a bipedal salamander before sticking it between the jaws of an alligator type creature, attempting to puncture its weak insides before he let loose with a blast, pushing it back.

A third monster was standing back from the others, firing at Chip and keeping him at a good distance. However, this was a wood and Chip jumped into a nearby tree, emerging from a blazing oak behind his opponent. He drove his staff into the monster like a rapier, then pulled it out and span around with the tip charged, and the monster exploded.

The forth monster, a golem appropriately named Golem, however was proving to be impregnable. Bolts of lightning did nothing to it and even a stray blast from Matoombo only caused it to stagger backwards a step. Chip found swinging his Lion Staff didn't help either as it bounced off.

It lifted Chip into the air, held him over a fire for a second, before hurling him into Xander, just as he was punching a Lava Lizard. Instead the punch connected with Chip and smashed him out of Legend Mode, laying dazed on the forest floor.

The golem then charged at Xander and they punched each other simultaneously, both of them flying back. However now the remaining Lava Lizards were able to overwhelm Xander, through away his wand, and held him against the ground, kicking him in an attempt to cause him to demorph.

Chip forced himself to stand up, and staggered towards the lizards. However he had no fight left in him, and they soon held him as well.

Matoombo bashed Moltar in the head and rushed to help them. In the two minutes that followed, Chip learned exactly why he was counted among the Terrors. In his flurry, pieces of Lava Lizard soon filled the air and even the golem was too scared to advance upon him.

But Matoombo certainly had no fear of advancing on it, and he was within stabbing distance...

There was a sudden chill, and everyone was rooted to ground by a foot of ice. The fire had been completely extinguished and where there was intense heat there was now a blizzard.

Chip's first thought was that this was Udonna, and she'd come to help them, but he was not that lucky.

"Brother." A sinister voice approached. "I'm afraid you have failed."

"Come out Flurious." Moltar yelled, as he melted his feet free.

Flurious did so, emerging from some tree. Behind him were some of his footsoldiers, holding Clare and Leelee, bound, gagged and lashed.

"I'm afraid that the dragon is already on its way to my hideout."

"Curse you brother." Moltar leapt through the air towards Flurious, who easily batted him away.

Flurious then turned to Chip and Xander.

"And I can make use of you as well." He smirked, and turned to some more of his footsoldiers. "Take them."

Flurious teleported away along with Clare, Leelee and several of his soldiers. Chip saw four more come up to him and a few were slowly approaching Xander. They grabbed him with their freezing hands and started to teleport him away.

But as they did so, Chip saw something that made him hope they wouldn't get Xander too. As they reached the green mystic, Matoombo broke his ice shackles and blasted towards them with an energy wave.

Then mid way through the trip, Chip finally passed out.

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**An:** I'd like to say when the next updates coming, but I don't trust myself that much.


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